Treasury bill

American  

Or treasury bill

noun

1. an obligation of the U.S. government represented by promissory notes in denominations ranging from $1000 to $1,000,000, with a maturity of about 90 days but bearing no interest, and sold periodically at a discount on the market.

---

Treasury bill British  

noun

1. a short-term noninterest-bearing obligation issued by the Treasury, payable to bearer and maturing usually in three months, within which it is tradable on a discount basis on the open market

---

Etymology

Origin of Treasury bill

First recorded in 1790–1800

Example Sentences

The total size of the Treasury market was a little over $30 trillion as of last month; about $6.5 trillion of the borrowing is in Treasury bills.

From MarketWatch

A cleaner approach would be an automatic Treasury-Fed asset swap after QE ends, in which the Fed exchanges its long-term bonds for short-term Treasury bills.

From Barron's

Treasury bills, except the issuer keeps the profits from the interest, while the traders typically make nothing.

From The Wall Street Journal

That’s when the central bank ended its quantitative-tightening program, or efforts to incrementally shrink its balance sheet without disruptions, and started purchasing Treasury bills to add reserves back into the system.

From MarketWatch

Treasury bills, bonds or notes, though those are backed “by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government,” according to the FDIC.

From MarketWatch